


Replacement

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-25
Updated: 2012-05-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 07:12:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/391166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>Permanently dropped</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Based on this prompt:</p><p>  <i>Homestuck, High school AU</i><br/><i>Jake and John are twins, Dave and Dirk are brothers (Dirk is 2 years older than the others).</i><br/><i>Jake is in love with Dirk and Dave is in love with John.</i><br/><i>John is dating Vriska and Dirk is flirting with Roxy, who flirts back occasionally.</i><br/><i>Dave and Jake somehow find out about each others loveproblems, and they reach an agreement: They have sex whenever they feel like it, and everytime they can pretend that it’s John/Dirk that they’re with.</i><br/><i>Dave always wants Jake to close his eyes since they’re green (and John’s are blue).</i><br/><i>They both want the other to be silent because their voices are not identical to their brothers</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Idea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geneticTurn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geneticTurn/gifts).



> I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with this just yet, but I felt like starting it, so here it is. :)

Your name is Dave Strider, and you're sitting in your trigonometry class, tapping your pencil rhythmically on your desk, trying not to just curl up and cry. Last night, your best friend, John Egbert, sent you a text in all caps that was about 60% exclamation points (which is a shit-ton, even for him) that the girl who'd been flirting with him relentlessly since the beginning of freshman year finally asked him out.

And he said yes.

If it were anyone else, you would have pointed out just how much he just emasculated himself by letting a  _girl_ ask  _him_ out, no matter how strong and intimidating that girl might be. But John isn't anyone else. That text shattered your heart in way you didn't expect. Why couldn't it be you? If he would agree to date the bitchy captain of the girl's basketball team, why couldn't he see that you, his best friend, are desperately in love with him? You have been since that time he, at ten years old, told the idiots who were mocking your red eyes and freckles and tiny build to piss off. You both ended up getting beaten up for that, but that proved to you, at long last, that someone was willing to stand by you.

But frustrated as you are with his choice, you know it's not his fault he didn't see you as an option. It's not as though you'd ever let your feelings show. As much of a bitch as Vriska can be, she's genuinely kind to him. You guess it could be worse.

After class ends, you go to your locker, get your lunch, and head to the cafeteria. As soon as you come in sight of your usual table, you freeze. Vriska is sitting next to John, trying to feed him a brownie while John is grinning too broadly to accept it. You feel sick, but you remember your legs are capable of movement and stiffly begin walking toward the transpiring scene. Dropping your ironic Barbie lunchbox on the table, you seat yourself several spaces away from John, even though your usual spot next to him is empty. You nod to Jake, your new lunch table neighbor, and he smiles at you pleasantly. Even though he and John are twins, you're glad he doesn't have John's blue eyes. That would have killed you.

John doesn't even notice you're there for a minute, distracted as he is, but as soon as he does, he smiles at you. But then he realizes you're not planning on sitting beside him as you always do. Confusion crosses his face, but it's gone as soon as Vriska nudges his cheek with the brownie. He returns to grinning but spares you a wave before turning back to her. He probably thinks you need to discuss something with Jake and wants to leave you to it. So you decide to do just that.

"Hey, Jake. How's it going?"

"Can't say I'm doing poorly!" He gives you a grin, though you notice it's missing its usual ease.

"Oh, really?"

His smile fades, and he looks at you questioningly for a moment before remembering that Striders have an unnatural way of noticing everything. "I suppose I am in a bit of a pickle, Strider," he says, his voice lowered. "It's certainly nothing you could help me with, though I appreciate your concern!"

Well, concern might not be the right word, but-- Wait, is he looking at Dirk? Yes, he's definitely staring at the table of robotics nerds at your older brother. You know they're close friends, but Jake's gaze looks much too wistful for just seeing him as a bro. And Dirk has been showing a surprising interest in Roxy lately that can't have escaped Jake's notice. Shit.

You take two bites of your sandwich before deciding you feel too disgusted to continue eating. Snatching up your uneaten lunch and hot pink lunchbox, you stand up, making Jake jump a bit. You put a hand on his shoulder--that impulse for physical contact surprising even you--and look down at him.

"Meet me outside the library after school." His eyebrows furrow in confusion, but he nods sharply, sensing the emotion in your voice. With another quick nod, you walk out of the lunch room, hoping that John at least noticed you left but not wanting to look back. If he didn't, you're not sure you could take it.

\------------

Your name is Jake English, and you're rocking nervously on the balls of your feet, waiting for your best bro's little brother to arrive at your appointed meeting place outside the library. Well, you suppose that Dave is your bro, as well, considering how long you've known each other. You and John used to be nearly inseparable, and both of you always played with the Striders when you were young. You smile to yourself as you think back on your days as a fearsome foursome, terrorizing the local park with your antics.

As you notice Dave approaching, you straighten up and give him a cheerful wave. "Hello there, Strider!"

He gives you a lazy salute before waving you over toward the door opposite the library's entrance. You tilt your head quizzically but follow him outside. He sits down on the concrete, leaning up against the brick wall of the building and heavily breathing in the fresh air. You've rarely seen him this visibly distressed (Dave tends to accidentally betray more of his emotion than Dirk), and you settle yourself beside him.

"What's the trouble, old chap?"

He looks you directly, the red in his eyes always a bit of a shock to you though you're long past being disturbed by it. "Same as yours."

You furrow your brow and give him a small, confused smile. "And what do you mean by that?"

He looks away again and sighs. Striders' sighs are never a good sign. "You like my brother, don't you? And I don't mean as-a-bro 'like.'"

Your smile immediately vanishes, and your eyes widen behind your glasses. It's a moment before you can respond. "Well, that was quite direct, wasn't it?" He looks at you impatiently, clearly expecting an answer more speedily than you've given it. "Yes, I suppose you've hit the nail on the head there. I've acquired some feelings for him that go beyond just friendship."

He nods gravely. "And I have the same feelings for John," he says quietly. You've never heard him sound so gentle and vulnerable before. You're a bit taken aback, but you probably should have seen this sooner.

"And now he's... Ahh, I'm sorry, Strider. And Dirk... This can't be easy for either of us, at the present moment."

"No. And I thought of some batshit idea that I need to get out before I think too hard about how stupid it is."

"And what might that be?"

He purses his lips, seeming to come to terms with what he's about to say. "We look a lot like our brothers, right?"

You nod, unsure of where he's going with this.

"We could... kiss each other or some shit, and you could pretend I'm Dirk, and I can pretend you're John. You know, to get it out of our systems. Get some kind of gratification after being shunted to the side."

You open your mouth to speak, but you're too stunned to say anything for a moment.

"Shit, just forget I said anything. That's a really fucking stupid idea."

"No, wait. I don't think... it's an altogether terrible idea. You know, just a one-time tryst, of sorts."

He turns to you, the surprise in his face visible to you, though it might be too subtle for most others to notice. "Ok. Should we head home and... try that, then?"

You swallow hard when you realize how quickly all this is happening. "May as well, I suppose."


	2. Lady and the Tramp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there's not a whole lot of content to this chapter! Trying to move the action and the exposition at the same time will do that. orz The plot and pace will pick up with the next chapter, I promise!
> 
> You can find this on [my tumblr](http://oldthymerhyming.tumblr.com/) also!

Your name is Dave Strider, and you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. At some point, you had yourself convinced that you did, but now you're pretty sure that that was never a thing that was true. And as you sit there on deep green carpet of Jake's room, you wonder what it is, exactly, you were intending to do here anyway.

You realize it's been a long time since you've even been in Jake's room. The last time was when you were in grade school, playing hide-and-seek. You went into Jake's room, thinking that the space under his bed might be cleaner than under John's. You were wrong.

Jake's been in the bathroom an awfully long time, though you can't exactly blame him. You shocked yourself with your own ridiculous idea, but you can't take it back now. Besides, your last kiss was also your first kiss--six years ago when you lost to your best bro it in a game of spin-the-bottle. By that point, you'd already been slowly developing a crush on John, but that kiss sealed your fate. You absently wonder if Jake has even had his first kiss. Both he and John are cheerful and talkative, but while John is fairly popular for his sense of humor and rampant pranking, Jake is much less so for his unusual interests and less flippant view on things. You and Jake used to be much closer friends when you were little, but you both ended up hitting it off better with each other's siblings in the long run.

Before you can reminisce too much on your childhood, you hear the bathroom door open, and Jake arrives in the doorway, hesitating there for a moment before proceeding inside. He gives you what you can tell is a forced smile and an apologetic shrug before turning to close his bedroom door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, mate. Just had to freshen up a bit for our, uh..." He clears his throat nervously. You nod your acceptance of his apology, and he comes over to sit beside you. "How should we... initiate this?"

"I was thinking we could go to a nice alleyway behind an Italian restaurant and wait for a kindly chef to come out and give us a plate of pasta which we would then consume until we got the same noodle. Then, bam, kiss."

Though you said that with some bitterness, your mood lightens when Jake gives you a genuine laugh. "Does that make you Lady, then?"

"Guess so."

After his resulting chuckle fades, you're left with a heavy silence similar to the one that lasted the entire walk home. But suddenly, Jake shifts nervously, and you can tell he has something to say.

"What, Jake?"

He looks at you, surprised, before sighing heavilly (probably recalling that Striders are trained in the arts of subtlety). "I thought I should make it known that this will be my first kiss."

You nod. "Thought so. This is only my second anyway. Might as well get some practice in."

He gives you a nervous smile. "Shall we, then?"

"Yeah. But let's go over ground rules again: Eyes closed, no suggestive murmuring of names, no suggestive murmuring of  _anything_ , no quirky weird shit that would clearly indicate that we are not our brothers. We gotta make this as convincing to ourselves as possible."

"And above all, of course, this shouldn't change anything about our relationship with one another or our respective love interests, yes?"

"Yeah." You sigh, trying to exhale your own nervousness. "Let's get this show on the road."

He nods gravely, and you start to lean in before either of you can back out. He closes his eyes immediately, and you quickly close the distance between you. As soon as your lips touch his, you close your eyes as well, letting your other senses feed your imaginary kiss with John. He doesn't kiss back, at first, and you bring a hand to his cheek, trying to calm him.

Finally, he tilts his head and presses back against your kiss. God, he's so much like John. His square jaw, his slightly chapped lips--even his scent. You force yourself to forget Jake. This is  _John_ whose lips are against your own,  _John's_ cheek your thumb is stroking,  _John's_ hand that's gripping your shoulder. You imagine his deep blue eyes, his messy black curls, his toothy grin, his quirky laugh peppered with snorts and jaunts to a feminine register. Fuck, he's perfect.

You bring your hand up into his hair, curling your fingers into it, while reaching out to put your other hand on his back. Pulling him toward you, he wraps his arms around your neck and begins to kiss more quickly and clumsily, and you can't help but follow suit. God, you've wanted this for so long. It's like finding a sealed jar of apple juice in a closet believed to be vacant of its sweet, fruity relief.

But you quickly abandon all thoughts of beverages when you feel his lips part slightly against your own. A rush of adrenaline runs through you, and you quickly follow suit. Then, you remember that you have no idea what you're doing. But it's too late to think about that as his tongue finds its way past your lips and brushes against your own. You give a small moan and accidentally pull on his hair a bit too hard, but he doesn't complain. In fact, he brings his hand up to the back of your head to make sure you're not going to back away. No chance of that.

You swirl your tongue around his, and he moans into your mouth, sending a shiver down your spine. Lowering your hand on his back, you pull him closer from the waist until your crossed legs bump against one another. You quickly unfold yours, and he follows, allowing you to scoot closer. His chest bumps against yours, and the sudden warmth of his body makes you take in a deep breath through your nose. When you get used to feeling his chest against yours, you calm down enough to suck on his tongue, producing a low groan in the back of his throat. You love how easily he responds and how--

"Jake! I'm home!" someone shouts from the front of the house. It sounds like John, but he's...

Right. You and Jake quickly back away from each other, eyes open, but not looking at each other. Several moments of silence pass before Jake speaks.

"Sorry about that, Strider."

"Yeah. Not your fault, man."

You look at him, and he's smiling sheepishly at the floor--an expression that was clearly meant for you. It makes you slightly sick to look at his green eyes. Jake's your friend, but he's definitely not John. But, God, he's so close.

More silence follows between you, punctuated by John shouting Jake's name in varying degrees of loud, sing-songy, and obnoxious. As each shout increases the series' ridiculousness, you feel your heart crack a little. He's such a dork, but he's  _your_ dork. At least, for those imaginary few minutes, he was.

Since Jake has say to relieve the silence, you get to your feet, your legs still wobbly from the kiss. As you head toward the door, you hear Jake get up as well.

"Strider, wait."

You pause and turn back to him. "Yeah?"

He gives you an almost apologetic smile. "Want to give it another go sometime?"

The surprise must show on your face because his smile fades a bit. But then, the corners of your own lips turn up slightly. "Sure. Why not?"

His resulting grin is genuinely pleased and relieved. "It's a date, then!" Realizing what he said, he reddens a bit. "Well, not a date! But a--"

You give him a small smirk. "Yeah, I got it."


	3. An Excuse

Your name is Jake English, and it's been almost a week since you had your first kiss with your best bro, Dirk Strider. It was clumsy and warm and perfect.

And then, you remember it was your best bro's younger brother whom you kissed.

Dave's not a bad kisser (from your painfully limited knowledge of the subject), but as soon as you opened your eyes and saw that he wasn't, in fact, his brother, the whole experience seemed so much less like magic and so much more like a stupid teenager trying and failing to fulfill his wet dream. And that is, with no exaggeration, exactly what it was.

Things have been pretty awkward between you and Dave since your brother's arrival interrupted your sloppy makeout session, but Dave's been hiding the awkwardness pretty well. You've been finding it more difficult. Every smile you give him, at lunch or in class, seems sheepish or skittish, and you're pretty sure anyone with eyes would be able to tell that _something_ went on.

But it's a hell of a lot worse whenever Dirk talks to you. He has a bad habit of sneaking up on you, and while it's always driven you nuts, you've started jumping about a foot in the air whenever he surprises you. This whole experience has made you admit to yourself just how bad you have it for him, and that on its own would have been bad enough without the additional problem of Dave being involved.

"Jake."

You reflexively slam your locker closed and spin to face your best bro.

"Christ, Strider! Why do you have to sneak up on me like that?"

He shrugs. "It's not intentional."

"Oh, right, because there's no chance you get some twisted enjoyment out of giving me an attack!"

"I suppose it may be slightly intentional." He gives you what you recognize as the hint of a smile. To avoid swooning girlishly on the spot, you turn back to your locker and try to dial the combination by muscle memory since your mind's suddenly gone blank.

"What did you want?" It comes out a little more hostile than you intended, and you mentally kick yourself.

"You've been acting strange lately. What's going on?"

You were expecting something like this eventually, but it still catches you off-guard. You hide your flushed cheeks by continuing to attempt to open your locker, turning the dial absentmindedly and without result. "Nothing at all! Whatever would give you that impression."

He reaches over to brush your hand away before giving the lock three sharp twists and yanking your locker door open. "Nothing at all."

You wrack your brain for any available excuse that's not directly the truth. "I've just been, uh, stressed lately."

Dirk gives you a look of concern you wouldn't have noticed if you weren't used to looking for his reactions. "What happened?"

"Nothing really." You pull out the best real excuse you can--you know he'd know you were lying if you tried. "Been having a spot of trouble in English class is all."

He brightens considerably (to your Strider-acclimated eyes, at least). "Why didn't you say something? I can help with that."

"No! Uh, no." He raises an eyebrow, and your brain scrambles to latch onto something again. "Dave offered to help me being that we're sophomore chums and all."

"Oh, right. You're in the same class--makes sense."

He nods in acknowledgement of your logic, but he looks disappointed. Dave is the math guy--Dirk is the... everything guy, but he's particularly skilled when it comes to English. You can't blame him for being surprised that you wouldn't ask him for help instead. "I should get going, then--got a meeting."

"Oh, sure, of course! See you later, Strider!"

"Just let me know next time something's wrong, Jake."

"Sure thing, mate!" You give him a smile that's a little too big, but he makes no sign that he notices. You wave to him as he heads down the hallway.

Somehow, Dirk always manages to make you nervous, despite your usually dauntless nature. You pull your backpack out of your locker and shut the door weakly.

You weren't sure if you ever wanted to indulge in another one of those strange makeout sessions with Dave, but by the fact that your brain immediately informed you that English tutoring would be a perfect excuse to see him and the fact that you're making a bee-line for his locker, you're pretty sure it's inevitable. You take a deep breath before joining Dave at his locker.

"Strider, it would be really keen if you would help me study for this English test," you say quietly, giving the words inflection such that he would understand you meant something other than what you actually said.

He nods in understanding and looks directly at you. "Sure. You want to take care of it now?"

You redden a bit. "That would be brilliant."

He shoulders his backpack, and as he brushes past you, he whispers, "We have the house to ourselves until six."

You shiver a bit before turning to follow Dave down the hall.


	4. How Far?

Your name is Dave Strider, and you're currently a bit more nervous about this whole thing you started than you thought you'd be. Admittedly, you're not quite sure what you were expecting, making a deal with your best friend's brother that you could make out with each other whenever you wanted. You guess it just didn't feel real. Who would agree to something that ridiculous and desperate?

Two lovesick idiots, that's who--one of them being you, the idiot who thought it up.

You were figuring that, after the first time, Jake would want nothing to do with you. You'd anticipated that he'd try it once and, when he realized how desperate and messed up it was, he'd never even want to lay eyes on you again. But _he_ approached you this time. And it's not as though you had any problem with that.

As you lead him to your room and dump your backpacks just inside the door, you're feeling even more nervous than the first time. You can't be your brother. You both know that, but you don't want him to feel too let-down. He's your friend, too, after all.

"How far were you planning on going today, Strider?" Jake asks quietly, his face beet-red.

"How far do you feel like going?"

You didn't think his face could go even brighter, but it does. The smirk you give him in response must have come across a bit more mocking than you intended because he starts trying to stammer out apologies and excuses all at once.

You set your blank expression back in place before taking a step toward him. You consider telling him that it's ok and that you'll go however far seems natural, but when you're so close to him, you remember how much he reminds you of his brother. He closes his eyes and tenses as though he's expecting you to hit him for revealing that he wants this as much as you do. But when he effectively takes the one feature that makes him undeniably different from his twin, he looks just like John. John, standing in front of you, looking more nervous than you've ever seen him. Your neutral expression immediately shatters, and you press your palm to his cheek before tilting your head and leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

You close your eyes before he can open his and destroy the illusion, and you feel him jolt in surprise at the unexpected kiss. But in a moment, he's kissing back clumsily. He doesn't seem at all concerned with trying to match your rhythm or even waiting for you to catch up.

When you think of John _wanting_ you this much, you can't hold back the moan that wells up in your throat. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him closer as you feel his arms latch around your waist. His mouth opens hesitantly, and your tongue immediately snakes inside, trying to taste all of him at once. He raises his tongue to touch yours, and groans as soon as they make contact.

Your breath is already a little ragged, and you feel pressure building in your pants. Your body is trying to rush this along faster than you had anticipated, but you're not in any mood to object. You take your tongue out of his mouth to kiss him again and start stepping back toward your bed, pulling him with you. He seems to know where you're heading because his kisses become even more frantic, coaxing a feeble moan out of you.

The back of your legs hit the bed, and he doesn't manage to stop himself in time to avoid sprawling on top of you, breaking the kiss. You both open your eyes in surprise, and your red eyes meet green. He has the exact same look of embarrassment and horror on his face that you do, and you can't decide whether you're glad about that or not. You're about to push him off of you and call the whole thing off a second time. But then, you think about how _urgent_ he seemed earlier.

You bring your hand up to cover his eyes so he can recall his illusion as you pull yourself up onto the bed. Then, you wrap your arm around his waist and drag him up on top of you. Jake is still breathing heavily, and he seems a bit shaky. You wish you sounded enough like Dirk to be able to say something that might calm him down. As you close your eyes and take your hand away from his face, you wonder what happened that would make him so urgently need this.

When he presses his lips hard against yours, you try to think of John, but you're still too busy being concerned about Jake. He may not be your best friend, and you may not be as close as you used to be, but you still care about him. But when Jake presses his erection against yours, thoughts of how strange and messed up this is start to creep back. You try to shove all thoughts of Jake away as quickly as you can, replacing him with John.

You can't quite manage it, leaving you with a strange mixture of the twins lying on top of you, but you still feel better about it. You can make yourself believe that you're not taking advantage of him, that he's John and he wants _you_ and not Dirk. It can only last for so long, but as you moan into his now open mouth, you'll take what you can get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter's going to be a direct continuation. I'm not cheating you out of the sexy, don't worry.


End file.
